Numbers fail to compute

Piniella tries going high-tech in seeking offensive answers

May 25, 2007|By Paul Sullivan, Tribune staff reporter

SAN DIEGO — As the Cubs tried to avoid a second straight sweep Thursday night in San Diego, manager Lou Piniella was tinkering with his office computer, trying to find some solutions to his team's vexing problems.

But after discussing the lack of a consistent offense in depth before the game, Piniella grew weary of the subject.

"I don't even want to talk about it anymore," he said with a laugh. "Let's get a different subject. Talk about some bikinis on the beach or something, surfers on La Jolla."

Well, turquoise seems to be the favored color on the San Diego beaches these days, and some delightful waves off La Jolla were most inviting to the surfing crowd. But in the end, it always comes back to the Cubs' inconsistent offense.

After scoring one run in each of their first two defeats in San Diego, the Cubs scored one through the first seven innings in Thursday night's game and were tied 1-1.

Piniella wanted his hitters to show more patience, but it was difficult to do so against a pitcher who was locating his pitches as well as Padres right-hander Chris Young. Young struck out six batters the first three innings and retired the first 12 men he faced before Aramis Ramirez's doubled leading off the fifth. He threw almost nothing but strikes.

"One of the problems we have is we're a very aggressive swinging team," Piniella said. "Everybody knows it. We know it, and so does the opposition. A little more patience, a little more selection, helps out.

"These last two games [before Thursday], we've swung at ball four with the bases loaded, and we've swung at ball four with first and second and nobody out. Are these guys trying to do it? Absolutely not. But if they want to give you a free base on balls, take the [darn] thing."

The Cubs entered Thursday's game ranked 14th in the National League in walks after finishing dead last in the NL in that category last year. The Cubs' lack of a consistency forced Piniella onto the Internet, helped by a Cubs publicist who looked up the stats Piniella wanted to see.

"We've been looking at this computer all afternoon, trying to figure this out," Piniella said.

His research showed the Cubs had scored six or more runs in 17 of their first 44 games, going 13-4, but averaged 2.9 runs per game in the other 27 contests, going 7-20.

"There's your answer," Piniella said. "We have to get more consistent scoring runs. It's hard to win with three runs a game -- any team."

Some of the numbers make no sense, Piniella conceded.

The Cubs were second in the league in hitting Thursday and first in hitting with runners in scoring position. They had outscored their opponents 208-183 yet were four games below .500.

"We should be above .500 with a plus-25 run differential," he said. "If you score more runs than your opposition, you should win more games."

Piniella sat back in his chair and laughed out loud.

It seemed so obvious.

"I'm not really laughing, believe me," Piniella said. "But there are too many games when we've scored three [or fewer]."

The offensive woes in San Diego have helped push the bullpen problems to the back burner, though it's still an issue that hasn't been completely fixed. In spite of the bullpen implosions of the first two months, Piniella said he believed "our bullpen is going to get better."

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psullivan@tribune.com

*IN THE WEB EDITION: For Thursday's late result, go to chicagotribune.com/sports